1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display panel (PDP) and, in particular, to a PDP having red (R), green (G), and blue (B) sub pixels arranged in a triangular configuration, which may also be referred to as a delta arrangement.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, a PDP uses a gas discharge that emits ultraviolet light to excite phosphors to realize predetermined images. Many consider Peps to be a next generation display because they may have large screen sizes and high resolution.
Depending on sub pixel arrangement, PDPs may be divided into two types. The first is a stripe-type PDP, in which the discharge cells are arranged in a stripe pattern (or in-line pattern). The other is a delta-type PDP, in which the discharge cells are arranged in a triangular (i.e., delta) shape.
In the delta-type PDP, a plurality of R, G, and B sub pixels may be formed in the delta configuration between front and rear substrates. Sustain and address electrodes may be formed on the front and rear substrates, respectively, at locations corresponding to the sub pixel positions. Closed, quadrilateral-shaped barrier ribs may be used to form the actual delta arrangement of the R, G, and B sub pixels.
In such a delta-type PDP, an address voltage may be applied between an address electrode and one of a pair of the sustain electrodes that correspond to the selected sub pixel to address it. A discharge sustain voltage may be applied alternately to the pair of the sustain electrodes to perform a sustaining step. As a result, ultraviolet rays generated in the sustaining step excite discharge cell phosphors to emit visible light to thereby display desired images. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,182,489 and 6,373,195 disclose related technologies.
The delta-type PDPs may also be formed by modifying the typical PDP structure formed with the linear barrier ribs, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,986. In this case, the R, G, and B sub pixels may be formed into roughly hexagonal shapes by barrier ribs arranged in a meandering configuration.
In the PDPs mentioned above, the sub pixels may be arranged in a triangular configuration so that when the R, G, and B sub pixels are grouped together to form one pixel, the width of each R, G, and B sub pixel may be greater than approximately one-third of the pitch (horizontal pitch) of the pixel. Therefore, higher definition may be possible as compared to the PDP having sub pixels formed in an in-line configuration. Thus, an area of the non-illuminating regions in the screen may be reduced, thereby achieving higher luminance.
Although the conventional delta-type PDP may have these advantages, no delta-type PDPs disclosed up to date appear to disclose similar characteristics for the sub pixels. Therefore, the overall characteristics of the delta-type PDP (e.g., luminance) may not be easily maximized, which may cause difficulties in producing the actual PDP.
For example, in the PDP of U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,986, open sub pixels are formed in a column direction by barrier ribs arranged in a meandering configuration. This may limit the ability to maximize the discharge space of the unit pixel.
Also, in the PDP of U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,489, while a single sub pixel may be formed by closed barrier ribs, it is formed in a quadrilateral shape. The ability to maximize the single subpixel's luminance characteristics may be limited due to the relation between an area of the display electrode provided within the quadrilateral pixel and the diffusion of discharge within the quadrilateral pixel.